Swedish blood disorder specialist Sobi has enhanced its portfolio with a $1.7 billion acquisition of Seattle-based CTI BioPharma and its myelofibrosis treatment Vonjo, a potential blockbuster that was approved last year.
The deal is for $9.10 per share, which is an 89% increase on CTI’s closing price of $4.82 on Tuesday. News of the deal sent CTI’s share price on a tear, increasing 83% in pre-market trading. By mid-morning on Wednesday, Sobi’s shares had fallen by 15%.
“We anticipated this reaction but this cannot stop us from doing what is right for the company,” Sobi CEO Guido Oelkers told Reuters. “We want to be a global leader in rare disease.”
The companies expect to close the deal in the third quarter of this year.
The primary asset Sobi gains from the 32-year-old company is JAK2 inhibitor Vonjo (pacritinib), an oral drug approved 15 months ago on an accelerated basis as the first treatment for cytopenic myelofibrosis.
Roughly 21,000 people in the U.S. have myelofibrosis, with two-thirds having cytopenias—thrombocytopenia or anemia, which commonly result from the toxicity of other approved therapies. The annual wholesale acquisition cost of Vonjo comes to $240,000.
In three quarters on the market last year, Vonjo generated sales of $54 million, with $21 million of that coming in the fourth quarter, the company reported. CTI said on Wednesday that given the transaction, it would not report first-quarter financial results or hold a conference call.
CEO Adam Craig said...
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